A King's Ambition
by Tuskiiii
Summary: A retelling of One Piece with a slightly powered up and expanded crew, involving multiple changes to the crew's pasts, how will these very different Straw Hats complete their journey to the end of the Grand Line in a world far more dangerous than they could've bargained for? On permanent hiatus due to all my files being corrupted :( (I'll try to remake it when my health improves)
1. Chapter 1: The Boy in a Straw Hat

**INTRODUCTION**

_**My first story I'm publishing here , involving powered up strawhats due to changes made to their pasts, along with an expanded crew as well. Certain characters will be changed along with this in terms of their personality also however they will remain mostly in character, unless that goes against character growth.**_

_**All of the crew's backstories will be added as a full supplemental chapter when appropriate and there may be additional chapters in the future if anything additional is revealed, e.g. The Sabo Flashbacks and The Vinsmoke Family**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own One Piece (shocker I know)**_

_**Feel free to review your thoughts on the story as it progresses along with any constructive criticism**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: Bon Voyage**

Wealth, fame and power...

Twenty years ago, Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates obtained these things along with all else the world had to offer. As he faced his execution his dying words drove countless souls to the seas.

"You want my treasure? You can have it! I left everything I gathered together in one place. Now you just have to find it! "

These words lured men to the end of the grand line, pursuing the One Piece and dreams greater than they could ever dare to imagine. Thus setting in motion the period only known as the great pirate era.

Years have passed, and the luster of the late Pirate King's final message have all-but faded away in the eyes of the world, many people that could once have been called dreamers have been stripped of the spark that pushed them forward, leaving only bitter, crushed husks, afraid of true strength.

Facing the end of an era, how will a world that has fallen into amenity endure the rise of a new generation of dreamers and the era that develops around them?

Can the old world persevere, or will it come crumbling down in the impending storm...

A tempest that eventually forms around the second King of the Pirates.

* * *

A young man clad in a red button-up shirt and an old straw hat stared out from his small fisherman's boat back towards Foosha Village, the humble seaside town that raised him, before giving a glee-filled wave and shouting out, at a volume only describable as head-splitting;

"Goodbye everyone, by the time I get back you'll be looking at the greatest pirate in the world!"

As he turned towards the ocean and pulled his straw hat up to his head as he drifted further from the harbor,

'Thanks for taking care of me all this time' he said under his breath,

Winding up his arm before hitting into a large sea monster, incapacitating it in one shot. Feeling ready for any challenge that comes his way. However, he was quickly proven wrong on that account as his boat suddenly lurched to the side.

* * *

After riding out the massive whirlpool within a cramped barrel, Monkey D. Luffy – Currently mid nap- had wound up in the hold of a ship mid-pirate attack. Suddenly waking up to hear what seemed like a young boy entering wherever he had been stowed away and three thugs crowding around the barrel.

Coby looked on in horror, his eyes almost bursting from his head as someone punched through the solid looking wooden barrel, completely knocking out two of the three massive men who had taunted him so mercilessly before finding the ship's hold

"I SLEPT SO GREAT!"

Coby didn't know how to respond to the strange man, who apparently was fast asleep through cannon fire and a ship being commandeered and curled up in a barrel no less. After knocking out the remaining pirate after he tried to attack the strange teenager fresh from their nap, Coby had run out of time to think about what was happening around him as the strange man suddenly spoke to him

"Hey, I'm really hungry, have you got any food around?" He had said in such a calm manner that Coby - Who was quaking in his thin boots due to the man who had taken down three of the people who had tormented him without any effort whatsoever.

"…"

"Um…" Coby was almost in as much awe as he was terrified of the man in the straw hat

"Oi, can you talk?" Coby responded at once to the threat although he was the only one who saw it as a threat, to the strange man it was a genuine question, sprouted from his worry about trying to talk to a mute person.

"T…There should be food a couple of rooms down the hallway!" Coby worriedly yelped as he bought hie hands in front of his face as if to defend himself.

As the short pink-haired boy took the lead, opening the door to a storage room he was pushed aside sharply by his follower, who gluttonously dove into a sack of apples in the center of the small room.

Coby could only watch as apple after apple was torn through, until he was finally broken out of the stupor he had been stuck in since the barrel had been forcefully opened and as he regained his sensibilities he had become even more mortified than he was previously

"D…Don't you know what you've done!" he started worriedly shouting whilst being sure to keep a low volume so no one would come to search for the source of his worried squeaks

"Those were all 'Iron Mace' Alvida's men" he continued,

"She's a big-name pirate with an 5,000,000 beri bounty" he looked down at his feet thinking about what to say next until he finally spoke meekly

"Thank you for saving me from those guys, they always bully me around, but I can't ask you to stay here, she'll just kill you, and probably me too after they wake up and tell her…"

Coby was completely blindsided by the man's following questions,

"What's your name, kid?" was his first, and then he followed up

"And what the hell are you doing with these pirates?"

Coby had no idea what the nature of these seemingly kindhearted questions were, so he could only answer them.

"I was going fishing two years ago and I walked on the wrong ship," Coby was going to continue however the strange teenager burst into a fit of laughter as the story of his plight disheartening Coby slightly until he bought his roaring jubilance to a halt and pressed for a name

"Uh… Coby"

"Coby huh… I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who's gonna be King of the Pirates"

"…"

"King… of the Pi…" Coby trailed off until finally responding

"Impossible…"

"Impossible…"

"It can't be done…"

"Impossible…"

"Imposs…"

_**Bonk**_

"Why'd you hit me?" the confused Coby asked.

"It's never right to insult another man's dream!" Luffy announced as Coby looked on in admiration

"Say Coby, do you have a dream?" Luffy smiled at him, a big happy, comforting smile, that just seemed to melt all of Coby's worries away.

"I…know it's not quite as grand as yours, but I…I want to become a marine!

"A marine?" Luffy inquired

"Yes, it's always been my dream to capture wanted criminals and protect people, ever since I was a little kid. Maybe I can stop being a slave and escape to join them!" Coby happily announced "No, I definitely will, and I'll come back here and hunt down that fat slob Alvida"

"Shishishishishishi" Luffy let out a pleased laugh "Now that's more like it!"

As Luffy spoke the ceiling above the two boys crumbled under the swing of a massive spiked club, quickly reacting he jumped on top of Cody to shield him from the falling debris, before picking him up and jumping through the newly made pathway to the deck

"What was that Coby!" Screamed a massive, boulder-shaped, man?

Luffy genuinely could not discern what he was looking at due in part to the gruff voice, acne and wart covered skin, and the folds of fat clumping around what could no longer be described as a neck. He could only assume it was a man, however he decided it best to ask Coby as he didn't really know if this was the captain he mentioned earlier or just some nasty looking dude.

"Hey Coby, who's this ugly fat guy? He questioned, with a beaming smile plastered across his face

All of them froze, even Coby and even the orange-haired thief girl who had been watching the unfolding car crash from the deck of Alvida's own ship dressed up in the attire of an unconscious pirate with a sack chock-full of all the valuables she could loot dropped to the floor beside her.

'That guy's going to get himself killed' she thought whilst stifling a giggle at the boy's comment

"Luffy, that's captain Alvida" he hissed then transitioning into feigning complements

"The most beautiful, tranquil…" finally snapping towards his captor

"…Disgusting, fat, ugly bitch in all of the East Blue!"

Everyone present was petrified, excluding of course Luffy, and then of course Alvida, who was absolutely seething.

One of her cronies who Luffy had succinctly decked earlier shouted out "Hey captain, that's the guy that beat us up earlier!"

Alvida of course didn't register the cry of her crewmate before screaming at the top of her lungs and bringing down her club directly towards Coby before Luffy jumped in front of him and said something odd under his breath,

_**"Tekkai"**_

The iron mace, Alvida's very own namesake came down onto the boy's head shattering around his head and crumbling until it was just a stubby metal stick with one of Alvida's meaty hand wrapped around it.

The crowd's eyes bulged at the seemingly impossible event, Alvida was stunned as her strike was still reverberating through her arm. However, their eyes weren't prepared for another of such spectacles as the boy in the straw hat threw his arms behind him, and they just didn't stop.

The thief from the opposite boat marveled at the sight she was seeing. They were stretching, and they kept stretching until his hands were about twenty meters behind his back by her eye.

_**"Gomu Gomu No Bazooka" **_

His arms rocketed forward thrusting into the stunned Alvida and her crew, sending them flying off into the distance. Coby looked on and could only think of one thing to say, although it wasn't the most polite thing to say to someone.

"Luffy, what… are you?" He said with a mix of fear, curiosity and bewilderment.

Luffy then responded by putting his finger in his cheek and pulling it out at arm's length from his face, much to Coby's and the orange haired girl's wonder.

"I'm a Rubberman" Luffy explained "I ate the Gomu Gomu No Mi and became made of rubber in exchange for losing my ability to swim."

"Incredible" That was the only word he could say to the man who had single-handedly freed him from slavery as well as reigniting his own dream of becoming a ranked officer in the marines.

"A devil fruit power" The thief muttered in astonishment and just a small amount of envy.

"Hey!" The sudden shout bought her out of her trance as she quickly ducked behind the railing, she was leaning over out of fear that she had been spotted by the self-proclaimed Rubberman.

"You weren't with those guys, right?"

As she peaked over at him, she was at once deeply confused by what she was seeing, the man was picking up the small pink haired boy and running towards the ship she was on

'He couldn't be…'

He was. Luffy had leapt over the railing of one ship, over the open ocean between the two ships and finally crashed down onto the pirate ship she was hiding on, landing directly opposite her in a heap just next to the mast.

"Eep…"

"My name's Monkey D. Luffy, the man who will be Pirate King," He said with the most bizarre yet reassuring grin across his face, he said thrusting his arm out as if waiting for a handshake.

"…" Nami couldn't help but remain in a stunned silence at the boy in front of her

"Aw man, I swear Makino said this was how to greet someone politely…" His face went a little bit red as his smile turned into a frown as if trying hard to remember something.

This bought the orange-haired girl back to earth as she realized that he wasn't some monster, he was just a boy about her age. She had been caught up in the moment slightly but then thrust her hand out in front of her matching what Luffy had done earlier.

"I'm...Nami." She said, eyes still wide and slightly confused.

As Luffy opened his eyes he accepted the handshake he was offered and started smiling again

"Pleased to Meet ya" The boy said as he placed a straw hat back onto his head "D'you know where the nearest navy base is, Coby here says wants to become a marine." This statement was followed by several gestures towards the pink haired boy which Coby noticed as the two were talking, the young woman didn't exactly look happy at a lot of the things Luffy said from Coby's point of view although he couldn't hear them from behind the ship's mast, he only heard her final exacerbated statement

"Um... Sure, I'll take you over to Shell town, think of it as payment for dealing with that pirate lady, I was just heading over there anyway." She politely offered to the pair, immediately contrasted by her followup as the woman recollected her thoughts.

"But count yourself lucky pirate-boy because this is a one-time thing, and only 'cause you helped me out!"

Even directing each of her scathing remarks towards Luffy, the teen's beaming smile didn't budge, which took Nami aback, if only for a moment, however it was quickly brushed off as she set to loading her haul of riches into her small boat.

The trio set off together, narrowly avoiding the group of marine ships come to apprehend the pirates, perplexed by the question of who could have defeated an entire pirate crew and vanish into thin air.

Nami leaned on her arm as she looked out to sea, periodically checking their boat's heading of course, who the hell had she gotten involved with now...

* * *

_**That was Chapter 1, A sort of taster for what's to come, and don't worry Luffy isn't the only one that's stronger, although I wont get into that for now :D**_

_**Following chapter will probably be out in a couple of days.  
**_

**Next Chapter ** **-=- ** _** Luffy: Romance Dawn**_


	2. Episode of Luffy: Romance Dawn

_**A/N**_

_**Hey guys, sorry for taking a while on this chapter, I was working on some stuff that you'll be seeing a little bit further down the line towards the end of the East Blue Saga.**_

_**I hope you enjoy the chapter, I'm quite happy with how it turned out**_

_**Disclaimer: What if I did own One Piece, Haha just kidding... Unless?  
**_

* * *

**_Episode_**_** of Luffy**__**: Romance Dawn**_

After jumping into the orange-haired thief's boat the journey of the currently unknown pirate Monkey D. Luffy had finally began.

However, his story was first set into motion twelve years prior to his departure from Foosha Village, at the bow of a rowdy galleon, moored in the small town for close to a year now.

"Oi Luffy!" Yelled a certain straw hat wearing pirate "Get down from there before you fall into the sea, I know you still can't swim!"

"I'm not gonna! Shanks, you said you wouldn't take me out to sea because I'm not strong enough to be a pirate," The small boy asserted as he pulled out a pocket-knife, holding it just under his left eye "I'll show you just how tough I am, then you'll have to take me with you!"

"Luffy, I don't know what you think you're doing but just get down here and we can talk about it!" Commanded the red-haired captain, trying to desperately defuse the situation with extremely limited success as more of the crew were arriving to check on the commotion at the head of the ship.

"No! I'm gonna go with you on your next journey!" Luffy shouted before plunging his small knife into the side of his face, "Ow It Huuuuuuuuurts!"

A unanimous scream was let out by the entire crew as the child that had befriended them had carved into his cheek before dropping onto deck, passing out from the sudden pain.

* * *

"Haahahahaa! Cheers! To Luffy's guts and our great journey!" One pirate exclaimed as everyone present raised their tankards high into the air before taking a hearty gulp of booze.

Makino's bar was usually quiet throughout all the time Luffy had spent hanging around in the village tavern, however the introduction of such a raucous pirate crew taking any excuse to party and drink had transformed it from an dull, empty shack into a bustling carnival filled with the only people Luffy had ever met that could be called 'criminals'. He had deeply admired Shanks and what he and his crew shared; a close bond different from simple friendship, as well as the freedom to do whatever or go wherever they wanted. This was the freedom he wanted more than anything else, aside from the things his grandpa would tell him on his occasional visits, he wanted to know about and see the whole world, without anyone to tell him what he could or couldn't do, that was his dream of becoming a great pirate, the very best, maybe even the king.

"It din't hurt at all." He whimpered, barely suppressing tears thanks to the thought of his dream

"That's a lie, don't you ever do such a stupid thing again." Luffy shrank back as Shanks scolded him. However, he quickly recovered his optimism and retorted the pirate captain.

"It's not a lie!" He could only insist "I'm not scared of getting hurt! So take me on your next voyage, I wanna' be a pirate too!" The young boy pleaded, much to Shanks' amusement as he laughed in the wannabe-pirate's face'.

"As if you could ever be a pirate! What use would I ever have for a weak kid who plummets underwater like an anchor, you'd only slow the rest of us down" He quickly said between bursts of laughter and chowing down on as much food as he could fit in his mouth.

"I'd be fine as long as I stayed on the ship! And besides, I am a strong fighter; my punch is as strong as a pistol!" He said, making sure to demonstrate to the captain.

"Oh really? Pistols?" Shanks mocked as some of the crew began to side with Luffy thinking 'well, why shouldn't the kid come' until their captain spoke up "If you want him to come so much one of you switch places with him." This caused a resounding choice to return to their drinks to sweep through the tavern.

"Weren't you siding with me just a second ago!?" Luffy shouted out, wounded by the loss of his former supporters.

"It's pretty simple Luffy, you're only six years old." Shanks stated very matter-of-factly "Get back to me in maybe ten-to-fifteen years and I might consider it. Now relax and have some milk."

"Wow, thanks!" Luffy politely said, oblivious to Shanks' trick, quickly gulping it all down like a man who survived a week without water.

"That's exactly what a kid would do!" The captain announced, causing him and his entire crew to burst into laughter as Luffy complained at how unfair his trick was before skulking away form Shanks further down the bar before asking Makino-the positively overworked yet extremely positive- bartender for a plate of delicious food, which she readily supplied despite not being the best cook in the village by a long shot however, Luffy's bar for what counted as a delicious meal was notoriously low, so she didn't worry too much.

_**CRASH**_

Just as Luffy had gotten through his meal and eaten some of the strange dessert loosely stored in the chest next to his plate, one of the saloon's doors had been kicked clean away from its hinges, landing just in front of the shocked captain.

"Sorry for intruding." One of the men forcing their way to the bar said in a mock tone. The man who Luffy could only assume to be their leader due to him being the only one in unique clothes, then followed up on his colleague's remark,

"So, these are 'pirates' huh "The threatening looking man said before letting loose a tired sigh "They look pretty damn pathetic to me…"

"Um, how can I help you gentlemen?" The always polite Makino inquired of the gang of thugs "If it's alright with you, I'm going to have to ask you to pay for…"

"We're mountain bandits." He cut off the poor bartender "But don't worry, we're not here to tear things up, just load us up with booze!"

"Oh, I'm sorry… but I've just ran out of alcohol, we have juice if you'd like."

"We don't want any of your damn juice, give us booze!" One of the cronies yelled out before their leader continued "These pirates seem to be drinking something… Is that the juice you mentioned?"

The pirate captain finally piped up "My apologies. Looks like we drank the place dry, Sorry!" he said with a strange sincerity unbefitting of such a situation "If you'd like you could have this bottle, it still hasn't been opened yet I don't think." Offering a small bottle of sake as his apology.

The bandit stared at the captain with a raw disdain.

"Hey, hey, you bastard. Who the hell do you think I am!" He yelled as he smashed the bottle into the red-haired pirate's face, littering alcohol and broken glass across the floor. "This swill isn't enough for a bedtime drink. Now politely apologize, after all you wouldn't want to get on the bad side of a man with an 8,000,000 Beri bounty" He smugly threatened, just as his thugs started cheering for him,

"Show him who's boss Higuma!" yelled his gang, almost as if this was something that happened often.

However, Shanks suddenly cut them all short, "I'm terribly sorry sir, I didn't mean to offend you. But please this just a saloon, why don't we just relax and drink together, after all… "He turned his sight to Luffy, "There are times when a man shouldn't fight."

"Your miserable scum, how dare you taunt me!" Higuma roared as he grabbed the pirate's head and smashed it through a table before winding up a punch and loosing it into Shanks' floored body. As he prepared another strike against the defenseless man, Luffy couldn't take watching his idol take any more punishment before running to grab the bandit's leg, pleading,

"Leave Shanks alone! He apologized so please just leave him alone, he didn't do anything to you! Please!" The boy sobbed as he gripped harder into Higuma's legs. The bandit leader had become thoroughly ticked off at the weeping infant at his feet as he shrieked,

"Piss off brat!" Kicking the boy with all his might, sending him careening straight through a window into the street.

"LUFFY!" screamed Makino and the rest of Shanks' crew,

"Woah boss, are you sure that's not going a bit to far…" Several of the other bandits voiced their objections until each of their voices was silenced "If you have a problem with how I do things prepare to back yourself up, otherwise let's get going…" He said as he began to walk out the door.

Just as he reached the door he turned around in reaction to -assumedly- one of his crew tapping him on the shoulder, only to be met by the fist of a furious captain, and his positively outraged crew.

"There's no such thing as a man who would attack a child in tears trying to protect someone he cares about, only an inhuman monster lacks that small amount kindness in their heart" A hateful Shanks informed as the bandits surrounding Higuma dropped to the ground one after the other without even being lightly touched. Shanks stood motionless in front of the chief bandit, only showcasing fear across his terrified face.

"Y…you…I…" The criminal couldn't force a word out between his quivering lips

"You're scum." Shanks corrected the Higuma's incomplete speech before slamming his clenched fist into the bandit's lower jaw, propelling the man's now limp, concussed body into the street, rocketing on top of the unconscious criminal, continuing to beat his body in an enraged trance, coating his fists in a fine red mist.

"S…Shanks?" A scratched boy came out into the street, only to see the captain turn towards him with a frightening scowl, quickly transitioning into a smile as the color returned to his face.

"Luffy!" He ran over and hugged the small boy tightly "I'm so sorry Luffy, this happened because I didn't do anything and he dragged you into it, I never should have allowed that to happen"

* * *

"I Haven't seen the Captain lose it that much in a long time…" Three of Shanks' crew discussed, as a round man in a striped shirt spoke up.

"Remind me not to get on his bad side," Lucky Roux said as he stifled an awkward laugh

"Hey, if he didn't do something I would've... I have a son around that age, I couldn't imagine what I'd do if something happened to him." Said the man wearing a headband reading 'YASOPP' "In fact, I want to ask Shanks about something whilst we're here in the east."

The first mate then spoke up, "I can guess what you're going to ask... I can't say for sure what the captain'll say, but after something like this I can't see him refusing…"

* * *

"Shanks that incredible! You really did that for me?!" Luffy looked up with stars in his eyes,

"That wasn't something to look up to, Luffy" Shanks said, quickly growing somber "I lost my cool and almost killed that hick because of it … Remember what I said earlier "There are times when a man shouldn't fight. Now let's get back inside and patch you guys up, Makino can call the Coast Guard to take those guys away"

Shanks perked up again as he took ahold of Luffy's arm, dragging him to the building, entering the door only to find that the small boy wasn't next to him, or rather his body wasn't, looking behind him he found that Luffy was standing in the same place he was ten seconds ago, however his arm had stretched seven meters remaining interlinked with Shanks' own as Luffy walked over to return his arms to their normal length.

The entire crew's eyes went wide as dinnerplates,

"Captain it's empty!"

Shanks worriedly interrogated the stretching child "LUFFY! Did you eat the purple fruit covered in swirls that was in the chest on the end of the bar?!"

"Yeah, that was some nasty dessert, it looked kinda' tasty but it tasted like it was rotten, bleh" The ignorant boy complained as he stuck his tongue out.

"That was one of the legendary Devil Fruits, you gained the power to stretch but you'll never be able to swim again!"

"Aaahhhhhhhhhh!" Luffy screamed as if all his dreams of becoming a pirate had shattered into one-thousand pieces.

* * *

The Red-Haired pirates had began packing supplies onto their ship as their holiday in the east had finally drawn to a close. Shanks sat down with a crying Luffy, thinking that everything he ever wanted had been flushed down the drain. "Hey Kid, how're you holding up?"

"Sha…nks?" Luffy sniffled

"Yeah, buddy?"

"Can…" _**Sniff**_ "Can I… still be a pirate?"

"Is that why you're crying?"

"Y…" _**Sniff**_ "Yeah…"

"Of course, you can still be a pirate" Shanks did his best to console Luffy "I couldn't imagine that this would ever be enough to stop you from setting sail…"

"Could I even be as strong as you?" Luffy's asked as his sniffling faded

"Maybe if you train really hard and learn how to use that new power of yours…" Shanks said as he formed a grin that just melted the rubber boy's doubts away

"And besides Luffy, lots of the very strongest pirates have their own Devil fruit powers,"

"Really?"

"You betcha!"

"Are they even stronger than you?" An inquisitive Luffy probed

"Yeah, lots of them" Shanks smiled, putting a hand around the kid's shoulders and gesturing outwards,

"You'll meet tons of incredible people of all sorts of different shapes and sizes out there, and I'm sure that you can find a crew just as incredible as mine who will journey across the world alongside you"

_**Sniff** _"Yeah!"

"Now Luffy, I've got an offer for you. It's completely up to you so don't feel like you have to say yes, but would you like to come on a trip with us to the Gecko Islands, they're not far from here, you can come and meet Yassop's wife and his son."

"Can I really?!"

"Yeah of course, he should be about your age as well"

"Wow… out to sea" Luffy said under his breath, beaming like a star

"Now of course there are still dangers even though it's only a short distance so you'll have to be careful" He warned "And of course we can't take you to the grand line, that much is obvious. We'll drop you back here after we're done over there, alright?"

"Mm" Luffy agreed enthusiastically nodding out of excitement for his first ever adventure.

* * *

_**I hope this chapter was a fun read, we'll be going further into the altered backstory of Luffy as well as Usopp's dad's son who we will be seeing very soon. **_

_**We'll also be looking at Luffy's three years training **__**before he had set out on his own**__** after Ace left.**_

_**Next Chapter -3-3-3- **_**_Episode_**_** of Luffy**__**: To be a Pirate**_


	3. Episode of Luffy: To be a Pirate

_**Hey everyone, it's me back at it again with a new chapter, I hope you enjoy the different directions I'm going with this so far!**_

_**I've also been creating art for new or redesigned characters in the story on the side, I'll be posting them at some point when relevant in the story so look forward to it :D**_

_**Disclaimer: One Piece isn't mine, I am not Eiichiro Oda, or am I?**_

* * *

**_Episode_**_** of Luffy**__**: To be a Pirate**_

The first two days of the journey Luffy had struggled against seasickness, much to the pirate crew's amusement and the rubber boy's annoyance at the constant belittlement directed towards him. Through endeavoring to push through his affliction, staying on deck all day to gain what Shanks called his 'Sea-legs', although Luffy had no clue what Sea-legs meant and the phrase utterly confused him, he knew that he would have to have whatever they were in order to one day become a great pirate.

As someone who had never sailed in the open ocean before, he was rapidly drawn to the bow of the Red-haired Pirate's flagship, staring out to the horizon and the greater world beyond it. He could scarcely understand the number of incredible places he could explore when embarking on his own 'Grand Adventure'.

It was still early in the morning and Luffy couldn't bare to stay below deck for long due to his waning sea-sickness still somewhat getting to him, although he wouldn't ever show it to the crew, the result of two previous days playing victim to vicious mockery due to lacking any necessary skills to sail the seas.

Shanks followed him to the figurehead, which Luffy had been staring up at curiously for several minutes before the captain finally walked up next alongside the aspiring pirate.

"Hey kid,"

Luffy shifted his view to the incredible pirate standing just beside him.

"Want to come sit up on the figurehead?" He propositioned as Luffy's eyes lit up at the idea,

"R…Really!?" Letting out an exited yelp as his would-be mentor hoisted him up by the armpits and clambered onto the head of the immense vessel, gently placing Luffy down between his crossed legs.

As the pair stared out into the ocean, Luffy proudly announced

"I swear one day I'll have a crew and my own ship that's even more impressive than yours!" As he thrusted his arms into the air in elation at the promise he had just made, forcing Shanks to duck his head backwards to avoid a rubberized fist to the jaw.

"And then one day, I'll become the Pirate King!"

"Pirate King, hm…" The red-haired pirate finally responded to the child's bold claim "I'll hold you to that then, if you can become strong, even stronger than me, I'll have no doubt you can do it…"

This confused Luffy slightly "How do I become strong like you then?" He asked, turning around waiting for his answer.

"Bahahaha! That's the hard part isn't it, Bahahahaa!"

Luffy felt deeply offended at the captain's laughter, it was a genuine question. This was one of the main reasons he hated how adults acted, they always dodged any questions he had.

"Shanks… It wasn't a joke…" The captain suddenly bought an end to his raucous laughter.

"Ah, sorry Luffy…" He said, bringing the boy out of his pout "If you really want to be strong, take every opportunity you can get to train with that devil fruit of yours, and never skimp out on training your body at the same time… "

Luffy began to nod in response to the advice he was being given, as if writing a mental note subconsciously.

"Oh, and most of all… Find yourself a crew with an unwavering spirit, one that'll never give up on each other no matter the odds they're up against. No one can turn the world on its head by themselves" Shanks repeated the advice he was once given himself, plucking the straw hat from his head, staring at it intently before plopping it down upon the boy's head,

"Take this hat Luffy… Take it and remember the promise you just made to me today. Once you've become a great pirate, seek me out and return it to me."

Shanks' request brought forth powerful emotions from within Luffy, unable to suppress tears that had started gushing down the sides of his face.

"Yeah…"_** Sniff**_ "Okay!"

'Ahh, why do kids have to cry so much…'

* * *

For one of the first times since he had become a pirate, Yasopp had openly volunteered for lookout duty, eager to return to his old home and finally meet his son,

'He should be around six years old now, I wonder if he still remembers my face' The sharpshooter was lost amidst a tempest of thoughts swirling through his head, pulled back to reality as a speck appeared upon the horizon, slowly morphing into the familiar shape; a hazy memory of the view behind him as he set sail years ago.

Suppressing the tears that had started to run down his face, he yelled down to the half of the crew that was awake, likely waking the remaining pirates with his shout,

"Captain! I can see land, we've arrived!

* * *

At the request of his mother, Usopp made sure to spend the first couple of hours in the morning having fun and exploring the island, after he finished breakfast of course.

His mother Banchina fell ill several months ago, plunging her son into fits of worry as he spent his days looking after her in any way he could; they weren't a particularly wealthy family, in fact as a result of her illness they'd fallen to poverty. Usopp gave his best to earn money, earnestly accepting any chores around the village to pay for their food and water. The boy didn't really know how to cook; however, he could still follow the simple instructions given by his bedridden mother when she was conscious.

The long-nosed child was wandering around in a forest near to the coast, slingshot in hand, decided to climb the tallest tree he could find to try and take away the concerns of a sick parent constantly weighing down on him

He hoped that the help he was giving today in that manor on the hill would give him enough money to buy some medicine, after all, they're so rich they've surely got lots of money to spare.

A particularly wide tree by the beach stood out to him among the others as he set to scaling the giant thing, well it was certainly giant from his point of view.

As his ascent of the massive pine drew to completion, Usopp found a sturdy branch which he promptly lay down upon, deciding to try and have a short twenty-minute nap…

…

Great, he couldn't get to sleep.

Sitting up, and surveying his surroundings, using his razor sharp eyes to quickly pick out the colorful plumage of many distinct species of birds, all creating their own cacophonic chorus of screeching and squawking like thousands of needles piercing into his head. Usopp sighed and stood up on his branch looking out to the horizon, his mind packed full of dreams of adventuring far across the world's oceans.

He began to contemplate the path he would take when descending such a monolithic tree until a black spec emerged from the corner of his eye, slowly growing over the horizon.

Usopp, being the curious young adventurer that he was, always carried a satchel, chock-full of assorted items that he thought could be useful, from the ammo for his ever-important slingshot that he had been left to him by his father, to a large magnifying glass to look at any strange bugs he could find.

Today however, he withdrew a telescope from his 'bag of tricks' and peered through the eyepiece as he directed his vision towards the dot on the horizon.

"P…P…P…" He stuttered, struggling to breath passed the lump that had formed in his throat as he gazed upon a black flag prominently featuring a skull front and center.

"Pirates…" Usopp finally forced out of his mouth,

"Pirates!" He yelled as he lost his footing and tumbled down through the surrounding branches, reaching the ground with a…

Thud

The boy quickly realized that he wasn't nearly as high up as he had originally believed, only sporting a couple of scratches on his arms and legs, something he greatly preferred over the broken bones he would have received had he climbed any higher.

Usopp knew now wasn't the time to worry about the scuffs across his body, instead scuttling to his feet and speeding towards the small village as quickly as his feet could carry him.

* * *

The sleepy village awoke with a start to the screams of a terrified child running down the dirt roads, at a speed that would be impressive under any other circumstances.

"Everyone, run! Pirates are coming in a huge battleship" The young boy's shouts roused the tired villagers to action as they bundled their valuables as best they could and hurried to hide out at the opposite coast.

After all, they had no reason not to believe the small child, he always did his best to help every one with any work that needed doing, and they all knew about his ill mother despite his best efforts to hide the fact that that was why he was working.

Several people offered to help Usopp and his mother however he remained adamant that she couldn't be moved in the state she was in, opting to hide with her instead and protect the feeble woman.

He ran as quickly as he could to reach his house, going by the big mansion that he was supposed to be working in today, pushing passed the butler who worked there normally, his eyes quickly made contact with those of the young girl, likely around his age, that had been standing behind the butler before twisting his head back around and dashing ahead towards his tiny house. Flying out of the young lady's vision as quickly as he had appeared.

"Merry?" She inquired to the butler whose hand had been trapped in the vice-like grip by the sheltered child.

"Yes, Miss Kaya?" Responded the sheep-like butler.

"Who was that long-nosed boy?" The curious Kaya questioned, forcefully turning the two of them in the direction that he bolted off towards.

"Hm, yes… I… believe he was called… Usopp, that's it!" Merry recalled" He was supposed to come around later today to do some chores around the house…. I thought that maybe he could even give you some company whilst your parents are away."

"Hmm, Usopp…" She said, letting out a small smile, and turning back around to head towards the shelter

* * *

Usopp had always been enamored with the idea of pirates ever since he was younger, but now he was amid a pirate attack himself, he was completely terrified. His mother told him stories about his father being a great pirate, however he'd also been told about the horrific things pirates did to villages and how bloodthirsty they were. Knowing that pirates coming to the village could only mean danger, prompting the scared boy to accelerate forward even faster.

He'd finally reached the decaying wooden door of his home, thrusting it open to an incredibly surprised Banchina who hadn't overheard the commotion from over in the village.

"Usopp, you're back!?" She yelped, quickly sitting up in bed, still taken aback by her son's sudden appearance and quickly hiding the card she'd been writing, 'Thank you for looking after me so nicely Usopp'

"Wha…"

The woman fell silent, at once picking up on all the scratches and cuts shrouding the child's limbs,

"Oh my, Usopp! What happened to you, are you hurt?" futilely reaching up to grab the first-aid kit from her bed "Come here, let me pat…"

"No! Pirates are coming! I know you can't move so I'm gonna' protect you!" He said as he pulled up a floorboard and lifted a single pistol from the small hole underneath, quickly loading it and aiming it at the door.

"How did you about that!?" His mother worriedly shouted, concerned that her son had found out about the cubby-hole holding two exquisitely crafted weapons left behind by his pirate of a father.

"Shhhh" The boy hissed "I may be a kid but I'm not stupid!" Insisting that he was smart enough to realize there was a hidden compartment under the one part of the floor that creaked when it was trod on "Now stay quiet, I'll protect you!"

The frightened boy didn't sound confident of himself yet still he forced out a smile to try and comfort his mother, who had slid off her bed to hide behind it. While his chattering teeth and jittering fingers might not have inspired many people, his mother was filled with a sense of security under the protection of her tiny knight.

'You've been so reliable recently…' She thought, regretting that her sickness had suddenly forced him into becoming so grown up

* * *

The crew of the Red Hair pirates strode through the village, with a small child atop the shoulders of a certain somewhat displeased captain, who had been roped into piggybacking Luffy by the rest of his crew,

'That's the last time I'm ever drawing straws with them, Beckman cheated I know it'

"Hey, Shanks?" The boy leaning upon his head questioned.

A mildly perturbed Shanks let out a 'Hm?' wondering what Luffy wanted now.

"Where is everybody? This is the village you meant, right?"

"Yeah, I was wondering that too…" Interjected the crew's sharpshooter "Where've they all gone?"

"Maybe pirates attacked or something…" Lucky Roux suggested

The other members of the crew suggested their own grim ideas of what could have happened, worrying Yasopp even more than he already had been, sprinting off in the direction he'd remembered their home to be in.

"Please be okay, Banchina…" He mumbled under his breath

* * *

Usopp steeled his spirit as he heard footsteps drawing closer by the second before coming to a halt at the door in front of him

'**Gulp**'

The door flung open as Usopp closed his eyes and fired into where he remembered the opening was.

_**Bang**_

A bullet was loosed towards the invader

_**Tink**_

'Tink?' Usopp thought as he pried his eyes open to see a tall man wearing a headband holding a frying pan out in front of him, actually it wasn't just any frying pan, it was his mothers, the very same one he had cooked dinner in the previous night.

Shaken to the core, Usopp readied his second shot, not prepared in the slightest for the man to dash forward and wrench the deadly weapon straight from his hands.

"Hey kid…" The man suddenly spoke "I think you're still a couple years too young to be playing with this kind of toy…"

Banchina then peered over her bed, letting out a sudden gasp, running up to the strange man, and slapping him across the face. This strange series of events bewildered Usopp, the boy had no clue what was happening around him.

"You leave us so suddenly and then... come back... like this!?" Shouted Banchina, breath ragged and irregular "Please… don't… g… aw… ag… ain…"

"Banchina!"

"Mom!?"

The woman who had been standing there just moments ago collapsed to the floor, panting heavily, barely conscious. Usopp cried out as the pirate hoisted her up into his arms as he raced back out into the open air. Seizing the spare pistol from the cavity beneath the floor, he sped after the kidnapper, ready to do anything to take back his mother from those monsters.

* * *

_**So there it is, the second part of Luffy's flashback, or is it Usopp's? Who knows...**_

_**Anyway thanks for reading the chapter I hope no one is minding Luffy and Usopp's early interaction**_

_**Next Chapter -4-4-4-4- **_**_Episode_**_** of Luffy:**__** The Beginnings of a Crew**_


	4. Episode of Luffy: A Crew's Beginning

_**I'm back with a new chapter everyone, Sorry about the long wait, but with current events i've had to deal with some things in my life. I also have a couple of other projects I'm working on along with this :P**_

_**I hope all is well in all your lives right now, enjoy the longest chapter so far and the conclusion to Luffy's flashback**__**!**_

_**Feel free to review and give your thoughts on the flashback**_

_**I'm taking a break from regular posting to write the story up until the end of Arlong Park, after I've finished that new chapters will be coming out weekly!**_

_**Disclaimer: Lmao who even reads these, I don't own anything, etc**_

* * *

**_Episode_**_** of Luffy: A Crew's Beginning**_

Yasopp sprinted between the abandoned buildings, cradling the feverish woman he'd reunited with moments earlier. Endless thoughts swirling through his brain, ceaseless questions he lacked the answer for, all he could do for now was get her to the doctor. As he leapt over a small house, a desperately confused pirate crew stared at the person their sharpshooter carried between his arms.

Shanks quickly inferred the situation, setting Luffy down to the road much to the child's annoyance. The crew then received orders from their concerned captain, now shouldering the sickly mother as Yasopp flew back in the direction he'd emerged from moments earlier. The rest of them immediately turned back towards their ship, the group unanimously agreed she needed to be looked at by a doctor.

The long-nosed youth only managed to drive his fatigued body a few meters from the shack he spent his life in before collapsing to the dirt beneath him, hitting his large nose as he toppled. It looks like the adrenaline had finally worn off, maybe his injuries from falling from that tree were worse that he originally thought.

"No… give her back…" He winced, his left arm screaming in agony as the various cuts across the young man's body slowly oozed blood. It wasn't long before his consciousness started to dim, finally watching the man who carted his mother off earlier returning to finish him off as the world faded to darkness around him.

* * *

Usopp gently opened his eyes to find himself wrapped up in a warm bed at the center of a room far larger than his own home, slowly taking in his surroundings he spotted pictures lining the wall, each of them prominently featuring the pirate he distinctly remembered, along with his… mother, she was a little bit younger in the photos but it had to be her, and she had even been smiling. Finally, Usopp realized two things about the room he was now being held in, the first one was the cast tightly wrapped around his left arm, the second was that…

"Oh, you're finally awake!" The child watching him beamed "I need to go tell Yasopp!"

He wasn't alone. Although he swore he'd recognized that name. He piped up before the boy in a straw hat could escape,

"Who are you?! Where am I?" sputtered the confused child,

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the man who'll be king of the pirates!" Luffy responded, as if that was a perfectly natural way to introduce oneself to a stranger "Oh, and you're on Red-haired Shanks' ship."

Momentarily dumbfounded, Usopp suddenly realized where he'd heard the name Yasopp before. Everything had fallen into place within his mind, he knew exactly where he was and precisely who had been looking after him, someone he had dreamed of meeting for several years.

"Is… Is my dad here with you?" Pressing even more questions to the pirate boy in front of him

"Of course he is, he bought both of you here idiot." The unexpected answer made even more sense in his mind and just as he was about to follow up with another question he'd been cut off by Luffy who'd started walking around the room, looking around "Man, I never got to come in here but you get to sleep in Yasopp's bed… D'ya want to go see him?"

Stepping onto the deck of his dad's own pirate ship, Usopp was awestruck by the bustling band of outlaws working and playing around him, each of them impressive in their own right. A certain rotund individual clad in striped clothing called out to the pair of them,

"Oi, so Yasopp's kids up eh Luffy?" Gnawing at a large piece of meat he continued "He's still in the infirmary if you're looking for him…"

The man trailed off and went back to the game of dice he was playing with a few others. Prompting Luffy to lead the newcomer down below deck as Usopp took in every aspect of the incredible vessel he always dreamt of.

"Usopp!" Banchina yelled as the door creaked open and the boy rushed to his mother's side "Are you okay? How's your arm?"

"I…"

"Never mind that, he's a man, he can deal with it…" Yasopp rudely cut his son off, however Usopp could only swell with pride at his father's compliment, much to his mother's dismay "Besides, I finally get to meet my son!"

Yasopp lifted the young boy to his lap as Luffy stormed off, jealous of the reunited family he journeyed up to the figurehead he'd been seated at two days prior when he first arrived. The only family he'd ever really known was his grandpa, and he was off working as a marine most of the time.

Luffy had always longed for a family of his own and even if he wouldn't ever admit it, Shanks had been like a father to him.

"It's not fair…" The boy let out a depressed sigh and shifted his weight to lean against the ship's railing. "Hmph…"

Quickly picking up on Luffy's brooding, Shanks' right-hand man strode up to the dejected passenger, he understood that Luffy got emotional at the best of times, at least for once he wasn't bawling his eyes out.

'What could've got him down this time…'

"Hey kid, what's up?" Luffy recoiled at the question, twisting his head away. Beckman could only guess what caused the sudden decline in his mood, although he had a fairly promising idea of what it might be.

"If it's about Yasopp's family, he's quite a bit like you, you know? It's the same story with Shanks…" At once, all of the young boy's attention went to the first mate,

"You see, the both of them never really knew their parents either, but that doesn't mean they don't have families. The captain bought together this rag-tag group of outcasts and nobodies and we became a family, Yasopp joined us, after our last visit here to his village he left another family behind, he may have loved Banchina and his newborn son dearly," Luffy let out a 'bleh' as he heard it, as any six-year-old would, Beckman continued, "However, he couldn't abandon his friends, his first family, his crew…"

"That's mean…"

"You may say that now, but there's no greater bond than one held between trusting crewmates" He continued "We all hold the lives of each other in our hands, we eat, sleep, laugh and cry together. I'm sure that one day you'll understand too, when you have your own nakama…"

Luffy then stood up and walked off, a renewed determination shining within his eyes.

The following couple of weeks Luffy spent in the small village blended together in the mind of the young boy, a couple of days were spent with the few members of the Red-haired pirates also having consumed devil fruits, attempting to help give their stretchy-stowaway limited control over his newfound abilities to limited success, at least he was now able somewhat control his rubberized anatomy, it was progress he gladly appreciated.

He'd grown a strong kindship with Usopp, who shared his keen interest in the greater world of pirates, and even showed off some of the wanted posters he'd collected from the spares included with the newspaper. He'd never really known any pirates apart from Shanks' crew after all, some of the higher numbers stood out to Luffy as he didn't have a tremendous grasp of the value in money, giving him greatly inflated views of the low-level outlaws. Several caught the boy's eye in particular:

**_The Heavyweight Quintal - 12,910,000_**

**_Needle-nose Belono - 18,100,110_**

**_Kuro of a Hundred Plans - 14,000,000_**

**_Platemail Jambeau - 14,342,000_**

Luffy, amazed at the incredible bounties he and Usopp were flicking through eagerly showed them off to the group of pirates surrounding them, causing an eruption of laughter among the rowdy crew,

The two children, unable to wrap their minds around whatever they could be laughing at, turned all attention back towards the thick stack of wanted posters that the long-nosed boy had amassed.

"Where is it?" Usopp thumbed through the pile until he pulled out the poster he had been searching for, "Ah! Hey Luffy, this is the highest one I have."

**_Saw-Toothed Arlong - 22,000,000_**

"What's the deal with his face" He questioned as Usopp shot him a shrug and gestured to his father sitting nearby.

"Maybe he was born like that" Luffy offered as the duo walked over to the sniper.

"Don't be stupid, People can't have blue skin idiot!" Although he refuted his friend's guess, Usopp had no idea if people could have blue-skin or not, although he was almost certain that his mother had told him about a disease like that… Coldnibble… or something like that.

Striding up to Yasopp and inquiring about the bizarre jagged-nosed man with shark teeth. The sniper gave a lesson on fishmen, the underwater species with supposedly ten times the strength of the average man, and each had features of all kinds of distinct species of marine life, explaining away the man's sharp teeth, and the fin that was protruding out of the spikey black hair draped down the imposing figure's back.

Yasopp looked on to the two boys, now arguing about having a fishman on each of their own crews.

his son insisted that they were scary and that he'd avoid them if he could, while Luffy was adamant that they were 'super cool' and that he'd definitely get one as part of his crew.

Although the legendary sharpshooter was slightly saddened by his frightened child, he hoped that he'd grow out of it by the time he set out to sea. Luffy on the other hand was another story all together, not an ounce of fear or hate towards the strange or different, he could only pray that that kindness was maintained as the kid grows up.

Although there was one thing he did know, these two children were destined for the seas, as such, Yasopp decided to take the time to try and teach them to fire a pistol, Luffy had quickly become quite disheartened at how difficult he'd found it, although he was astonished by his new friend who'd picked it up incredibly quickly despite a cast concealing one of his arms. Luffy had chalked this up to luck, which Usopp aggressively refuted, proudly touting the tutelage of his father. Several members of the crew had already attributed the child's newfound skills to genetics; Luffy heard them say this a couple times but he didn't know what it word meant so he mostly ignored it and assumed it was some kind of secret training Usopp had been given.

The duo spent all of their time together, playing, exploring and experimenting with Luffy's strange body, although the rubber boy was far less interested in his friend's tests, he wouldn't protest even though he hadn't known where the curiosity in things like how far he could stretch had come from. Usopp however was amazed at the incredible powers his new friend had, he spent hours brainstorming unusual ways for Luffy to utilize his powers, but most of all, he enjoyed having someone around his age to play with.

When the day finally came for Luffy to say goodbye to his new friend, along with prepare himself for the eventual departure of the Red-haired pirates. He stared down from the stern at Usopp and his mother – Who temporarily regained her mobility thanks in part to the treatment she had received – A couple of the villagers had even come to watch the departure of their pirate guests, however none of those gathered there dared to speak up, save of course for a certain long-nosed 'sniper' as he'd began to refer to himself.

"You'll come back right?!" Usopp wailed, blubbering as he held back tears. "I'll see you again, won't I?!"

"Of course I will!" Luffy quickly responded, sounding almost offended. "You're my friend! I swear when I get older, I'll come back, and when that happens… YOU'LL JOIN MY CREW!"

His final statement bought forth torrents of tears that streamed down the sides of Usopp's face, he really could be a pirate, not just some liar but a real pirate, sailing the high seas.

"ALRIGHT! CAPTAIN!" Howled the youngster, entertaining both of his parents greatly, each of them already having made their farewells.

The galleon slowly made its way from the coastline, and while the crew prepared for their final voyage with the boisterous pirate-to-be, Luffy made sure to relay his first command as captain while he still had a chance.

"Your gonna' be sailing with the future King of the Pirates, and we'll need a world-class sharpshooter" Usopp's ears perked up at the sudden assertion "So you better be super strong by the time I next see ya', alright!?"

By the time Usopp could force a response the ship had already travelled far enough that Luffy could no longer make out his voice amidst the noise of waves clashing around him, yet he was sure his sniper heard him, going by the reaction on shoreline.

* * *

As the days onboard the Red Fury went on, Luffy had been whipped into shape by Shanks and the rest of his crew as he learned some basic swordplay and even how to sail a small ship, the boy was happy that he was finally being trained properly, and it did a great job of keeping his boredom at bay during the trip, however the training he had undertook, was becoming far more strenuous than he'd originally imagined, he only had Yasopp to blame for that, as once the paternal sniper knew that Luffy was to one day be his son's captain, he insisted that Luffy become someone that his son would never regret following.

As the sixth day of their voyage dawned, Already out of breath from the rigorous warmup forced onto him, Luffy panted as the scheduled sparing was about to begin, preparing himself to try and go all out against whichever crewmember had been picked to humor the trainee on his final day.

In the brief time Luffy had been away from Foosha Village he had changed quite a bit, becoming slightly more muscular and athletic, even slightly taller than he was prior to the voyage. A brutal crash-course from an incredible pirate crew had transformed him into quite the young warrior, especially in combination with the powers of the devil fruit he had eaten. In spite of his sudden personal growth, Luffy stared wide-eyed at the person standing who stood up and made his way to face him, the captain of the Red-Hair pirates that he admired so much, Shanks.

"Alright Luffy, you ready to show me what you've learned?" Inquired his role model, "Or are you gonna run and hide?!"

Rapidly steeling his self Luffy adopted a robust stance, fully prepared to unleash his newly developed skills on the man before him.

"Just wait until you see what I can do!" Spouted the now-grinning boy, who had given his straw hat to the first mate for the duration of the match.

Yasopp, taking the position of referee, then spoke up "Alright! Since this is your final day with us Luffy, we all wanted to see how much stronger you've gotten. All you need to try and do to win is land a single hit on the Captain, and he has to evade your attacks for a whole hour. Good luck kid, you'll need it."

"Are you kidding Yas?! A whole hour, that's way too long! I thought it'd only be for ten to fifteen minutes!" As his crew shot disapproving stares at their leader, he expressed a short sigh. "Alright then kid…. You've got an hour"

Luffy acknowledged Shanks with a quick nod. He remained firmly confident, after all there's no way anyone could avoid him for a whole hour, especially with how much stronger he'd become.

The sound of a pistol firing into the early-morning sky rang through his ears, prompting him to rush down the deck unloading an uppercut into the captain's gut, or rather, it should have. Instead Luffy was punching through empty air, leaving Shanks completely unscathed,

"C'mon, you've gotta be better than that!"

Annoyed at the sudden remark, Luffy launched a kick at his opponent, hoping to catch him off guard, again Shanks dodged, this time through a quick leading into him prodding Luffy in the back of the head.

"Too slow kid…"

As the particularly one-sided fight drew on Luffy was beginning to get desperate, forty-five minutes had already passed, and he was no closer to landing a punch than he'd been in the beginning. Suddenly coming to a stop, he tried to think about a way to outsmart his adversary.

Shanks let out a yawn as he peered at the rubber 'gnat' that had stopped buzzing around him, "What's up kid? D'you give up?" The pirate captain knew better of course, Luffy would never give up like that, it pleased Shanks that after forty-five minutes of mindless attacking, the kid finally understood the point of the exercise – forming a battle strategy.

As time went on the crew grew concerned at the ever-shrinking timeframe Luffy had remaining, they didn't expect him to succeed but they never thought he'd just stop like this.

"Five minutes to go kid!" Yasopp yelled out to them as the other spectators chimed in "You can do it Luffy! Go get him!"

The pirate captain could only sigh at all the support his opponent was receiving from his own crew, he knew however that all of them had grown to care for the kid dearly, and he did too to some extent, despite the fact that he'd never admit it to anyone.

Luffy's mind swirled as he formulated a plan, enduring the headache it was causing him. 'Okay, I'll try it out…' His eyes sprung open, completely prepared to put his new plan into action.

"Alright!" yelled the boy as he entered his final four minutes. "Here I go!"

His leg extended as a kick slung towards the pirate captain, causing the eyes of the entire crew to burst from their sockets – Shanks included – Since when has he had that much control over his abilities?

"**_Gomu Gomu no Whip!_**" Yelled Luffy, deeply happy with the surprise felt by those around him

Quickly regaining his composure, Shanks leapt into the air to avoid the oncoming kick in the very same way he'd done earlier. Unknown to him was the plan of the crafty rubber pirate-in-training.

"_**Gomu Gomu no Shotgun****!**_"

A punch was quickly loosed towards the airborne captain, quickly stretching as Luffy jerked his arm, causing it to thrash around midair as it flew towards its target with no predictable pattern.

'Crap' Shanks thought as the flurry of rippling rubber blasted into him, knocking him into the mast.

"I DID IT!" Luffy shouted as the crew ran up to him congratulating him on his newfound success, a winded captain made his way from the base of the mast to give his thoughts on Luffy's strategy.

* * *

The rest of the day on the Red Fury had been spent partying to celebrate Luffy's victory and the final day he would spend with the crew he'd known for over a year now. The mess hall was abuzz with festivities, and Luffy had already started on his eighth helping of dinner.

"Hey, Luffy?" Shanks spoke up, in between bites

"Hyumpgh?" the gluttonous boy responded, halfway through a massive leg of meat,

"After we drop you off, we probably won't see each other again until you set off on your own journey…"

Gulping down the clump of food in his mouth, Luffy's speech was finally intelligible "Yeah, so?"

"By the time you set off on your journey I'll have left you something at the start of the Grand Line, so make sure you don't forget about it okay, then you can meet me on the seas after you've become a great pirate."

"Wow! What are you leave-" Luffy was cut off by the person on lookout duty, bursting in through a large door.

"Captain! We're here!"

"Ah, perfect. C'mon Luffy lets get you home." Shanks dragged the child away from his meal up to the deck, though Luffy still managed to snatch the remaining piece of meat from his plate to gnaw as they made their approach to port.

Suddenly an ear-piercing growl boomed out from the village they were nearing,

**"RED-HAIRED SHANKS!"** A grizzled voice roared.

**"WHERE IS MY GRANDSON!?"**

* * *

_**Oooh, cliffhanger... It'll be hanging for a long time too as next chapter we're returning to the present.**_

_**Give any thoughts on the flashback as a whole in the reviews, Until next time :)**_

_**Next Chapter: -5-5-5-5-5- Chapter 2: The Starving Swordsman**_


End file.
